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Ahead of the Chiefs’ game against the Eagles, Travis Kelce and a number of his teammates showed their support for Rashee Rice. The Chiefs’ wide receiver was sentenced to 30 days in jail for a 2024 car crash. Kelce and several other teammates wore shirts in support of Rice. People are not happy about it.
Travis Kelce supported teammate Rashee Rice before a game
In 2024, Rice and another driver were speeding along a Dallas highway at over 115 mph when they lost control of the vehicles. They crashed, hitting four other cars and injuring multiple people. Rice left the scene, but later turned himself in to police.
A judge sentenced Rice to 30 days in jail, and he accepted a six-game suspension. At a game on Sunday, Sept. 14, Kelce, Tyquan Thornton, and Hollywood Brown all wore “Free 4” shirts ahead of the game. Rice plays under the number four.
People are slamming Travis Kelce for his support of his teammate
The shirts sparked swift backlash, with one Reddit user saying that wearing the shirts was “pathetic behavior.” They felt that Rice got the consequences he deserved.
“Free him from the consequences of his actions?” asked another person.
“Free him from what? He [pleaded] guilty and accepted his punishment,” wrote another person. “Travis is an idiot.”
Many people expressed frustration that Kelce decided to speak up in favor of his teammate.
“Out of all the battles to pick, he chooses the guy who admitted to causing a pile up? AND he fled the scene?” wrote one person
Others felt that the six game suspension wasn’t particularly harsh.
“What is he getting free from?” asked one person. “It is a 6 game suspension for what should’ve been reckless endangerment.”
A lawyer for one of the victims also commented on the shirts.
“Rashee isn’t Nelson Mandela or Pepe Mujica, men who fought for what they believed in,” Marc Lenahan, who represents Kathryn Kuykendall, told TMZ Sports. “There is evidence that Rashee was going 119 mph in a $1,749 per day Lambo rental that had pot and a pistol in it, on a highway on Easter weekend. Free Rashee? He already thinks he’s getting away scot-free. He’s not paid a single cent of the $1.1 million judgment he already owes our client, who is living anything but pain-free.”
Amid the backlash, the Chiefs’ coach, Andy Reid, commented on the shirts. He said he just thought the players were trying to support their teammate, not make a comment on his actions.
“I would tell you I know these guys love Rashee, and they feel for him sitting out here and I think it’s no more than that,” Reid said, per The Daily Mail, adding, “I just think that those guys, they love the kid and want him to feel part of it in their own way. I really don’t think it’s anything more than that.”
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